


Gossip and History

by Telesilla



Category: Actor RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-04
Updated: 2009-05-04
Packaged: 2017-10-05 12:51:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Telesilla/pseuds/Telesilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 97 CE Jason spends an evening with some curious historians.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gossip and History

Although the young man was technically royalty, Gaius Suetonius Tranquilius was hardly going to show up at his uncle's door in the morning as if he were a client. Instead, he invited Marcus Flavius Agrippa to a small dinner party, making sure that none of the other guests had any real problems with Jews. At least Marcus was properly Romanized and was not a follower of Chrestus.

Suetonius did give some thought to the matter of what to serve; he'd heard that Jews had some strange dietary laws. Then he remembered seeing Marcus Flavius' uncle eat with the Emperor and not decline any of the dishes, so he simply told his cook not to serve any pork and left it at that.

The first thing that struck Suetonius about Marcus was his height and then, as Marcus turned to allow a slave to help him out of his toga, Suetonius saw him in profile and noticed the nose.

He does indeed look like the Divine Titus, Suetonius thought as he ushered his guest into the dining room. Seeing Pliny's look of surprise, he knew that he wasn't the only one to think it.

It was a small party--the only other guest was Quintus Avrius, an Imperial secretary who also dabbled in writing natural history--and so Suetonius settled Marcus Flavius on his own couch while Pliny and Avrius occupied the second couch. As the the first course was served, Suetonius was pleased to note that Marcus didn't refuse any of the dishes and furthermore, preferred his wine well-watered. In fact, he was a perfectly polite guest; as the guest of honor, he could have dominated the conversation, but instead, he seemed content with following it.

Marcus' Latin was good and largely unaccented, and when, at one point, he quoted Herodotus, his Greek was pure and he got the quote right. Altogether an impressive young man, Suetonius thought as the last of the meal was cleared off the table and the wine steward brought in the Falernian, a nice 20 year old dulce.

"Far too good to water," Suetonius said.

"It should be a crime to water Falernian," Marcus replied, waving off the boy with the water pitcher. He took a sip and then tilted his head a little. "Faustian?"

"Most certainly," Pliny said with a smile. "You know your wine, young man."

Marcus nodded. "My father had an impressive cellar and was quite the connoisseur; everything useful I know about wine, I learned from him."

The three other men exchanged glances. "Your father...?" Suetonius finally said.

"Isaac ben Matthias," Marcus said. "My mother's second husband; he died a few years ago."

"Oh come now," Pliny said, with a slight smile. "I think that at this late date it's possible for you to name your real father."

For just a moment, some strong emotion flashed across Marcus' face, but Suetonius wasn't sure if it was anger or fear. Whatever it was, it was gone as quickly as it arrived, and Marcus gave Pliny a blandly polite look before taking another sip of wine.

"There's always been so much gossip about my mother's family," he said. "And really, most of it is false." He shrugged a little. "One quickly learns to ignore all of it."

"False gossip is the enemy of history," Suetonius said. "At some point I would like to talk to you about your mother's family; perhaps you can help me sort out the truth from the falsehoods."

"I would be honored," Marcus said, and the conversation moved on.

Later, as Suetonius saw Marcus to the door, he paused in the vestibule. "It is said by those who were there at the time that when the Divine Titus lay dying, he complained, saying that he had but one great regret on his conscience. To this day, no one knows what it was."

Suetonius paused and gave Marcus a look. "I wasn't sure if you knew that or not."

"I didn't," Marcus said. He drew a breath, as if on the verge of confiding something important, and then shook his head a little. "Thank you. I...just, thank you."

An interesting young man, Suetonius thought as the door closed and he headed toward his study. Knows who his real father was, of course. He poured himself a glass of wine from the jug on his desk and settled into his chair. And maybe Pliny was wrong; given the way things are right now, it's probably safer to be the son of an obscure Jew and a foreign queen no one in Rome ever liked much.

There was one thing Suetonius was sure of--Marcus Flavius Agrippa was someone worth watching.

_-end-_

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in 97 CE when Jason is 17 and Nerva is Emperor of Rome. Gaius Suetonius Tranquilius is the biographer/historian Suetonius. Marcus Flavius Agrippa is Jason's Roman name and was the name he was using at this point in his life. Because Roman names are tricky and it seems a little weird to use the full names of people who we know by certain names, I'm using Suetonius and Pliny (this is the younger Pliny, who was a friend of Suetonius) instead of Gaius Suetonius and Gaius Plinius. I'm sticking with Marcus for Jason. Quintus Avrius is not a historical character. Jason's mother was connected to the Herodians, so it's pretty accurate to say that there was a metric buttload of gossip about them.


End file.
